


Between Frost and Flame

by images_words



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Azula (Avatar) Redemption, Bisexual Sokka (Avatar), Bisexual Suki (Avatar), Gay Zuko (Avatar), Gen, Lesbian Yue, M/M, Moon Spirit Zuko, Spirit Magic, Trans Zuko (Avatar), Waterbender Yue, Yue (Avatar) Lives, Zuko (Avatar)-centric, trans Bato
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-08-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:15:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25868794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/images_words/pseuds/images_words
Summary: Burned and banished from his home, 10-year-old Zuko is forced to build himself a new life with the Southern Water Tribe.But even more changes are coming, and Zuko is thrown into a world of spirits, magic, and a war he thought he'd left behind.
Relationships: Aang/Katara (Avatar), Bato & Zuko (Avatar), Bato/Hakoda (Avatar), Mai/Ty Lee (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), Suki/Yue (Avatar)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 171





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Zura is Zuko! Zuko is trans, but doesn't realize it until later in the story :)

Iroh didn't want to leave Zura behind. 

He hadn't wanted any of this to happen. He wished he could go back, tell Zura that if she knows what's good for her she'll keep her mouth shut.

Not that it would do any good. Zura had always been stubborn, and more than that, she was too kind for the cruel world she'd grown up in. It was inevitable, Iroh supposed, that one day she'd speak out against the injustices committed by her father. 

He didn't know how she'd even found out about it. But his niece had come to him, ranting about her father's plan. And before he'd been able to stop her, she'd barged into her father's office, demanding to know why he thought sending those soldiers to die was justified. 

Ozai had calmly gotten up and locked the door. Locked Zura in with him.

For a few, agonizing minutes, Iroh thought the silence inside the room was the worst sound he'd ever heard.

Then Zura had started screaming, and he knew he'd been wrong. 

The next thing he knew, his niece had been thrown out of the room, sobbing and clutching her face, and Ozai had announced that she was banished.

Iroh couldn't just let her go alone. But in leaving with her, he'd declared himself a traitor to the Fire Nation. And that put a giant target not only on his own back, but on Zura's, as long as she was with him.

He had to take her somewhere safe, and he had to leave her there, without him.

That's why he was headed to a remote village in the Southern Water Tribe. 

Kanna would keep Zura safe. He knew her almost better than he knew himself, and he knew she wouldn't let any harm come to his niece. 

****

"Kanna."

Kanna gave Iroh a warm smile. "It is wonderful to see you again, Iroh. A shame it had to be under these circumstances." 

Iroh nodded. "Thank you for agreeing to take my niece. I do not know where else I could take her... she certainly cannot stay with me. It's too dangerous."

Kanna nodded. "I understand." She knelt down to talk to Zura. "You're going to be staying in my village, alright?"

Zura shook her head. "I don't want to! I want to stay with Uncle Iroh!"

Kanna sighed. "I know you do, sweetheart. But that's just not possible."

"Why not?! Uncle won't tell me!" 

"Because... Because it's not safe for you to stay with him. Leaving the Fire Nation was very dangerous for him, and as long as you're with him, you are also in danger. It is better this way."

For a minute, it looked like Zura was going to start yelling, or worse. Her fists clenched at her sides, and fire sprang from them. Kanna instinctively stepped back.

Then, the girl burst into tears. Iroh immediately pulled her into a hug. "Shhh. It's okay, Zura. Everything will be okay."

"Please don't leave me, Uncle...."

"I'm sorry, Zura. I have to go. I wish I didn't have to leave you... but you're safer here. You're safer far, far away from me." He stood up and turned to leave. 

"Uncle?"

"Yes, Zura?"

"I love you." 

"I love you too." 

He turned and walked away, and Zura collapsed, sobbing, into Kanna's arms. 

"Shhh. It's going to be alright, little one." Kanna gently wiped Zura's tears away. "How old are you, Zura?"

"I'm 10."

"Only a year older than the Chief's son, then. His name is Sokka. I believe you two will get along very well." She stood, grabbing the girl's hand. "Come on. I'll take you to meet the others."


	2. Chapter 2

There was a Fire Nation girl in the village. 

She was tiny and skinny and pale and she had golden eyes and her jet black hair was done up in a very obviously Fire Nation style, but even if she'd had none of those things, her status as a firebender would have been given away by the fact that she was quite literally on fire.

Bato sighed and considered going back to bed. It was too early for this.

But he didn't go back to bed, despite his best judgment telling him to walk away and let someone else deal with this.

Instead, he approached Kanna, who seemed to be trying to calm the girl down. 

"Kanna, I mean no disrespect, but... who is this girl, what is she doing here, and why in the everloving fuck is she on _fire_?"

"Her name is Zura. Her uncle brought her here with the understanding that we would protect her. And she seems to be having some sort of meltdown." She paused as the ice underneath Zura started to melt. "...no pun intended." 

"Okay, well... do you know what set her off?"

Kanna shook her head. "Not really.. She's been quite upset about being separated from her uncle, but the fire is a recent occurrence."

"How recent?"

"She's been like this for... five minutes or so?"

Bato nodded. He knelt down in front of the girl. "Zura? Can you hear me?"

"Go away!"

So that was a yes.

"Zura, I need you to put out the fire, okay?"

"Why?! Because it's _not a healthy outlet for my anger_?!" She said that last bit in what Bato assumed was a poor impression of the aforementioned uncle. 

"No. Because you're standing on a patch of ice that you're going to melt through if you're not careful." 

" _Shut up! Just shut up!_ " 

Bato shrugged, then stood up and walked away, watching from a little ways away. Other people were starting to come out to see what the commotion was about, and Kanna moved to join him.

"Bato, what are you doing?"

"I'm letting her sort herself out. Go get some blankets, will you? I get the feeling she's going to be very cold in a few minutes."

Sure enough, within a few minutes, Zura had completely melted through the ice, and the fire went out as she went down with a splash and a small, undignified yelp. 

Bato took his time heading towards the hole she'd created for herself. Some time in the water would do her good.

He didn't waste too much time in pulling her up, though. Firebender or not, he'd never forgive himself if she died. 

As soon as she was finished coughing up water, she glared at him and attempted to breathe fire at him. Bato probably wouldn't have been able to tell that that was what she was doing if not for the faint sparks that came from her mouth. He was impressed, loathe as he was to admit it, that she had kept _any_ of her firebending ability after being in the freezing water.

When that didn't work, Zura seemed to switch tactics, and instantly burst into tears.

It took Bato longer than he would've liked to admit to realize that she was genuinely crying, not just putting on a show for pity or attention. 

Kanna knelt down beside the girl, wrapping her in blankets. "It's alright now, Zura," she said softly. 

That was when Bato noticed the burn on her face. It covered nearly the entire left side of her face, including her ear, and spread down her neck, disappearing under her collar. How hadn't he noticed it before? And why wasn't it bandaged? It looked recent, and _bad_ , almost as if the skin had been melted.

He turned to Kanna. "Her burn... why isn't it covered?"

"It was. But when she set herself on fire, the bandages... burned up."

He nodded. "I'll get her new ones." He took the girl from Kanna, leading her to the healer's tent.

The healer, Aya, looked up. "What's going on out there, Bato?"

"Not much, anymore. I've brought the source of the commotion to you. Aya, meet Zura."

"That's a nasty burn, Zura. Can you tell me where you got it?" Aya asked softly. 

Zura shrugged. "I don't know." 

Bato frowned. "What do you mean, you don't know?"

"I don't remember. I just remember screaming, and then I woke up on a ship and my face hurt."

Bato sighed. "Well, we'll worry about that later. Right now we just need it bandaged up."

Aya nodded. "...Bato? Why is she all wet?" 

"She fell in the water. By the way, when you go outside, be careful of the hole. I'm gonna go get her some dry clothes. Get her dry and bandaged up for me, alright?"

Bato left the tent and went to find Hakoda. Sokka's old clothes would probably fit Zura.

Hakoda, as it turned out, found him.

"Bato, why is there a hole in the ice?"

"Kanna brought home a firebender girl and she set herself on fire. I need to borrow some of Sokka's old clothes, stupid kid melted herself a hole and ended up soaked." 

Hakoda nodded, apparently deciding not to question it. "I- yeah, I'll go get some... is the kid okay?"

"Physically? She's fine, aside from the giant burn on her face that she doesn't remember getting." 

"I- you know what? No. Nope. I don't wanna know. I am going to get the clothes, and then I want nothing to do with this girl."

By the time Bato returned to the healer's tent, Aya had finished dressing Zura's burn, and Zura was naked, wrapped in blankets and relatively dry. Her wet clothes had been hung up to dry outside, and Bato handed her the clothes Hakoda had given him, turning his back so she could put them on.

"You weren't kidding about the hole," Aya remarked. "Did she do that?"

He nodded. "Decided it would be a good idea to set herself on fire, melted herself right through the ice."

"I didn't do it on purpose," Zura said softly. "I just lost control. I didn't mean to... please don't hurt me." She sounded like she was about to cry.

Bato turned around. Sokka's clothes were a bit big on her, but they would have to do; right now, he was more concerned about what she had said. _Please don't hurt me._

"Why would we hurt you, Zura?" he asked softly. "It's just ice. It'll freeze back over eventually." 

"No, it- it's... not the ice. The fire... Father always punishes me when I lose control."

Bato's heart broke a little at that. No child should be afraid of their own father. "Well, no one here is going to punish you for that, alright? I promise. And no one here is going to hurt you." He knelt down beside her, pulling her into a hug. "You're safe here, Zura. You're safe."


End file.
